Album Review: Flume 'Skin'

| June 07, 2016

Who can make your skin tingle and make you feel all warm and sparkly? That person is obviously, Flume. The moment we all have been waiting for has finally arrived: the release of his sophomore album ‘Skin,' after having been teased for what felt like ages. Leading up to Skin’s release, Harley was intriguing his beloved fans and followers by posting track previews on his Instagram along with the meaning behind each one- and if there’s one thing we know about Flume’s music, it’s that it speaks to our soul due to his incredible ability to transform feelings and emotions into sounds that are entirely his own.

What makes an artist truly live up to the title of an artist is to do exactly that, to make art and to push themselves to new limits and out of their comfort zone. ‘Skin’ embodies this flawlessly, the 16-track LP being nothing short of absolute magic, packed with some elements of that OG Flume sound, as well as a more darker and distorted side of the 24-year old producer.

When dissecting the album and beginning with the opening track ‘Helix’, I literally looked over at my arm and saw goose bumps. That’s the only thing that can be said to properly describe how mesmerizing ‘Helix’ is, and that’s just the first track.

The tracks that have been replayed by the masses prior to the album’s release and are already becoming staple Flume songs with vocals from Kai (‘Never Be Like You’), rapper Vic Mensa (‘Lose It’), Tove Lo (‘Say It’) and AlunaGeorge (‘Innocence’) are prime examples of that glitchy, chilled out, future-bass Flume sound we all know and love; featuring perfect vocals and are already getting remixed by artists like Disclosure.

No surprises here, just classic Flume slaying us as per usual. But with the rest of the album, the Australian-born producer took a risky turn and experimented with a much darker and distorted sound that honestly blew me away, creating this new genre of glitchy, chill hip-hop.

‘Numb and Getting Colder’ with Kucka could not have a more fitting title, because the feeling of being numb and cold is literally turned into a sound, having elements of drums and this chilling, extra-terrestrial vibe blended into the track. ‘Wall Fuck’ is another one of the many stand out tracks off the album, it’s intro hitting you right in your core with 3 minutes and 9 seconds of dark, heavy, distorted beats. ‘Pika’ nests in the same category, with a bit of a more delicate take.

My personal favorites off the album would be ‘Helix’, ‘Wall Fuck’ and ‘When Everything was New’, which captures the feeling of innocence, nostalgia and free-spirited youth; the pure feeling of being infatuated and excited over experiencing something for the first time. The rest of the tracks off the album such as ‘3’, ‘Like Water’ featuring a fresh new sound by the name of MNDR and ‘You Know’ featuring Allan Kingdom, along with the other tracks, just tie the rest of the album together perfectly.

This album is like a beautiful puzzle, each track being a piece of the puzzle. Some pieces look different from others, but still fit perfectly in the overall picture of what this album is; art. ‘Skin’ exceeds expectations by warping delicate, simple sounds into something a bit glitchier and darker, while still incorporating elements of Flume’s signature sweet sound. To put it simply, the album feeds the soul, and you’ll be able to hear it live when Flume embarks on tour with supporting acts such as Cashmere Cat, Mr. Carmack and AlunaGeorge. Experience the chilling magic that is ‘Skin’ live in-person- tickets available here and the full album is available to listen on Spotify!

Much love to Flume, and congrats on the success of Skin! Now, we can only sit and wait for what other future sounds Flume will bring to the table, but we already know that it’ll be nothing short of enchanting.